All about growing wheat, just at the click of a button

Kalro develops an app that allows farmers to talk to scientists and get tips on growing the crop on their phones

Virginia Wamboi a farmer from Njoro in Nakuru County using the Elemsis application which was created for farmers' education on wheat growing. There are plans to include other crops like maize and even content on livestock, with time in the application. PHOTO | SILA KIPLAGAT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Application works offline once downloaded and farmers can also get tutorials on wheat farming.

The app would also help farmers get quality seeds developed by the institution as they can ask directly the researchers.

The application provides an option of Swahili or English at the point of installation, allowing it to reach a wide audience.

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Wheat farmers can now engage scientists directly on various aspects of the crop production following the launch of an app known as Elimsis.

Dr Immaculate Maina, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro Njoro Centre Director, said the application launched by the organisation would provide farmers with firsthand information on the correct farming practices.

“The quality and quantity of food production highly depends on the farming practices. It is, therefore, important to continuously guide farmers from planting to harvesting,” Dr Maina said.

To use the app, farmers have to first download it from the Google Play Store, then register and start engaging researchers on things like disease outbreaks, including by posting photos of the plant.

Dr Maina said the application would encourage regular interaction between scientists and farmers as opposed to annual open day visits that have been the norm.